摘要:

Normal laughter is a unique human behavior with characteristic facial and respiratory patterns elicited by a variety of stimulus conditions. The neuroanatomy remains poorly defined but three levels seem likely: a) a cortical level; b) a bulbar, or effector, level; and 3) a synkinetic, or integrative, level probably at or near the hypothalamus. Pathological laughter occurs when laughter is inappropriate, unrestrained (forced), uncontrollable, or dissociated from any stimulus. Pathological laughter is found in three main conditions: a) pseudobulbar palsy; b) gelastic epilepsy; and c) psychiatric illnesses. It is also found in other pathological conditions. What brings these together is their clinical similarity and probable disinhibition at higher brainstem levels.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1982

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

Endogenous opiates have been implicated in pain and stress experiences. In order to directly assess the relationship between endorphin activity and acute behavioral distress, β-endorphin immunoreactivity (β-EPI) was measured by radioimmunoassay in cerebrospinal fluid of 75 children with acute leukemia undergoing routine lumbar puncture. These data were related to four measures of behavioral distress collected during the procedure. For children 4 years of age and above, β-EPI correlated inversely with age (r= -.31,p≤ .05). All behavioral measures also inversely correlated with age (r= -.26 to -.67,p≤ .05 to .001). Females had a significantly lower mean β-EPI than males (p≤ .01), and exhibited greater behavioral distress. β-EPI and behavioral measures interacted with the use of specific antileukemia agents. L-Asparaginase was associated with lower β-EPI (p≤ .05), while prednisone was associated with lower behavioral distress on three of the four measures (p≤ .05 to .01). After controlling for age, sex, and chemotherapy, β-EPI and nurse ratings of anxiety were positively correlated (partial correlation coefficient = .31,p≤ .05). Correlations between β-EPI and other behavioral measures demonstrated positive trends. Results of this study are interpreted as support for the reactive nature of β-EPI in cerebrospinal fluid to acute distress, and may help explain documented sex differences in distress behavior. Potential clinical implications and directions for further research are discussed.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1982

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

This descriptive study employed semistructured interviewing and questionnaire administration to delineate the sociocultural determinants of the help-seeking process in 48 psychiatric patients. The help-seeking process is considered in two stages. The first stage starts from the recognition of initial symptoms and ends in the first contact with a mental health professional. The second stage is defined as that time between the first contact and actual participation in a planned treatment program. In both stages, patients typically go through phases of lay consultation, nonpsychiatric professional consultation, and referral. The multiple steps which are usually involved in help seeking often result in significant delay of both mental health contact and treatment.The help-seeking process was found to correlate strongly with ethnicity. Both Asians and Blacks showed more extended family involvement, and the involvement of key family members tended to be persistent and intensive in Asians. Ethnicity was also associated with the length of delay, with Asians showing the longest delay and Caucasians the least. These ethnic differences were also reflected in help-seeking pathway assignment using Lin's criteria.Although modernity and parochialism, as measured by the level of modernization and the cohesiveness of the social network system of the subjects, were also found to be correlated with delay, they appeared to exert an influence independent from that of ethnicity.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1982

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

Efforts to predict suicide and attempted suicide are hampered by their relative rarity on the one hand and the inadequate specificity of clinical characteristics and relevant antecedent events on the other; that is, these features are found widely among the nonsuicidal as well. In an effort to further understand these phenomena, the authors studied family history of suicidal behaviors (suicide, attempted suicide, and suicide threats) in 127 patients hospitalized following a suicide attempt. Patients with personality disorders (antisocial personality disorder, alcoholism, somatization disorder, and narcotic addiction), comprising 45 per cent of the sample, frequently reported a family history of these behaviors, most notably attempted suicide. Patients with primary affective disorder reported a family history of suicidal behaviors somewhat less often. The diagnoses grouped here as personality disorders (excepting alcoholism) contribute little to the suicide rate, while primary affective disorder contributes substantially. Although further data are needed, it is suggested that a family history of suicidal behavior in primary affective disorder should alert the clinician to heightened suicide risk, while a similar history in nonalcoholics with other psychiatric diagnoses is not particularly significant.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1982

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

This study examined bilateral electrodermal responding, heart rate, and resting EEG in schizophrenics who were not psychotic at the time of testing. Twenty-four carefully diagnosed, remitted schizophrenics were compared to 22 medical outpatient controls. Subjects were exposed to 17 pure tones; the 16th tone differed in frequency and duration from the others. Prior to the tone series, subjects engaged in 2 minutes of respiratory maneuvers followed by a 5-minute rest period during which EEG was recorded. Consistent with past reports examining chronic, hospitalized patients, the schizophrenics divided evenly into responding and nonresponding groups and skin conductance responding was associated with a higher rate of spontaneous activity, elevated tonic conductance levels, and more responding during the respiratory exercises. When those responding in the control and schizophrenic groups were compared for number and amplitude of tone-elicited responses, no group differences emerged. There were no differences in dishabituation between these two groups. A variety of analyses failed to reveal any evidence of electrodermal or cerebral asymmetry. There were no differences between the two schizophrenic groups in measures of heart rate or resting EEG. However, consistent with other reports using hospitalized patients, the schizophrenics as a group produced less EEG alpha and more delta than the normal subjects. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the electrodermal and EEG phenomena identified in psychotic, hospitalized patients represent stable traits characteristic of schizophrenia.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1982

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

Research Diagnostic Criteria-diagnosed schizophrenic persons with average intelligence and dual diagnosis mentally retarded schizophrenic persons were tested in a forced-choice letter discrimination task in order to examine the relationship between schizophrenia and retardation from the standpoint of information-processing theory. The subjects consisted of eight schizophrenic persons of average or better intelligence, eight mentally retarded schizophrenic persons, and a control group of eight Research Diagnostic Criteria-diagnosed minor depressive individuals who were matched with the nonretarded schizophrenic group for intelligence. The groups did not differ significantly on the minimum exposure duration needed to identify an unmasked target stimulus at criterion levels of accuracy. When masked stimuli were employed, however, the depressive group obtained significantly more correct detections than both schizophrenic groups. More importantly, the performance of the two schizophrenic groups did not differ significantly. Our data indicated that schizophrenic deficits in information processing are independent of intellectual factors. Thus, vulnerability to a masking stimulus in schizophrenic persons can be attributed to the pathology of schizophrenia. This vulnerability indicates that schizophrenic patients are slow information processors.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1982

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

The disturbed behavior and dissatisfaction of patients were studied in relation to nurse and junior and senior doctor changes in two different psychiatric wards. One ward represented the medical model of psychiatry and the other a modified form of therapeutic community. The results showed no statistically significant relationship between the weekly level of disturbed behavior and staff changes in either ward. There was a tendency for patients to become more dissatisfied when the nurses left the ward and less dissatisfied with the arrival of senior doctors in the medical model ward only.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1982

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

The purpose of this article is to report the prevalence of tardive dyskinesia using strict diagnostic criteria in a large sample of chronic mental patients. The criteria used were those of Villeneuve, and only patients with constant movements were counted. The disorder was significantly (p< .001) less frequent in males (5.8 per cent) than females (10.6 per cent). The study found an overall prevalence of 8.2 per cent in 3140 patients. This figure should represent a minimal prevalence figure since only patients with severe symptoms were included.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1982

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

A left hemisphere-damaged, hemiplegic, and globally aphasic man was taught receptive and expressive language using Total Communication—a combination of standardized sign language and speech. After an initial period during which words (in sign) were learned slowly and with frequent lapses of memory, the subject's learning ability and memory improved dramatically. He has learned to communicate using increasingly complex, syntactically correct sentences, self-correcting his mistakes. He reads and understands simple sentences. These results suggest that it may be possible to restore communicative function even in those stroke victims who remain orally aphasic if a suitable means of expression can be found.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1982

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

A 73-year-old woman with no previous psychiatric history received clonazepam maintenance therapy for essential blepharospasm. Visual, auditory, and tactile hallucinations as well as paranoid delusions were documented. Dose reduction resulted in complete disappearance of the hallucinations and reduction of paranoia to an acceptable level, with no exacerbation during the subsequent 12 months. To our knowledge, this is the first well documented report of psychosis induced by clonazepam. Psychosis was probably related to clonazepam-induced increased central nervous system serotonin and possible predisposition to organic brain syndrome by undocumented causes. Dose reduction is suggested as an alternative to discontinuing the drug when hallucinations or paranoia arise during clonazepam therapy, if no other satisfactory treatment is available and if adequate patient monitoring and protection exist.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1982

数据来源: OVID